The New York private-equity firm will pay $76 for each Gardner Denver share, a 2.9% premium to Thursday's close. Shares were recently trading 1.4% higher at $74.91 premarket. The stock has climbed 7.8% since the start of the year.

The deal values Gardner Denver at about $3.9 billion, including the assumption of debt.

KKR had bid $75 a share for the Wayne, Pa.-based company in February and increased the offer after Gardner Denver sought a higher price.

For KKR, the deal would mark the buyout firm's third purchase in the industrials space in the past few years. KKR agreed in April 2011 to acquire Capsugel, a unit of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. (>> Pfizer Inc.) that makes drugs in capsule form. Later that year, KKR agreed to acquire Capital Safety Inc., a large provider of safety products and equipment for construction and other workers.

KKR ended up being the only serious suitor for Gardner Denver in an up-and-down sales process that dragged on in recent months.

Gardner Denver, which employs about 6,400 people and posted sales of about $2.4 billion last year, pursued a deal with rival SPX Corp. (>> SPX Corporation) late last year after garnering interest from a number of private-equity firms. SPX offered $4 billion for the company but later dropped the bid amid negative reactions from shareholders.